I get the thrust of your comments Olive but I just want to skewer an ongoing myth and make a few points.
...benign climate, low density traffic routes....
1. SYD-MEL-SYD is amongst the busiest routes in the world. SYD-BNE-SYD probably isn't too far behind. Add in the plethora of other traffic from other places into the mix as well as the mix of aircraft type and it's a bit of a shambles.
2. Our airfields are mostly a long way apart- at least compared to Europe and many parts of the US.
3. Whilst our climate is relatively benign, I reckon it's a lot more changeable. Rare to get unforecast thunderstorms in SIN or LHR. Not uncommon at BNE, MEL, SYD, PER. Never had unforecast FG in SIN, get it a few times a year in BNE, SYD, MEL, and PER. Once that occurs, point 2 applies.
I've flown overseas on the odd occasion over the years. Flying around Australia on nice days is easy and your point is valid on those days. Flying around Australia on an unpleasant day is worse than anything I've experienced when flying in/ out of London, Rome, Frankfurt, LAX, New York (admittedly it was only snowing when I was there, not a blizzard), Tahiti, Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch (snowing), Narita (snowing one season, Thunderies the next), Osaka, Taipei, Manila, Hong Kong, Port Moresby, Honolulu, Shanghai, etc.
Anyway, not trying to start a 'our life is tougher than everywhere else' type comparison. Quite obviously many places have their days. Just don't want the BS line that 'Australia is easier than everywhere else' myth to perpetuate.